I'm not sure where this goes. If I screwed up, sorry mods, please move this to the correct forum.

Anyway I keep seeing this guy with the "PAY $400 or lose your pics!" extortion pic as a avatar from Photobucket around here. I just happen to run A Newbie's Guide to RPGamer's Message Forums, where I keep a list of picture hosters. Since I figure not everyone's seen me on RPGamer's forums (the link's in my sig over there) or has seen that site, I felt it's better to spread the list around, so going to post it here for everyone to see.

You'll notice Photobucket is missing. They SUCK since they added that fee, they can die in a fire. I do hope tho this helps folks over here since I know you guys depend on pic hosters for things like splashes.
==============================Imgur -- Free, you prolly will have to sign up so you can manage your files. To hotlink from there, you will have to make it public. Also no copywrited material, child porn or that kinda stuff allowed. BUT!! They decide what might be infringing so that might be trouble. Do not use them for pic hosting for websites.

Flickr -- Free, need to make a account here to use it. No file limits that I can see. BUT! No copyrighted material allowed, and they do takedowns. You need a Yahoo ID to make a account here, which you may not have and may not want to make one. Also finding the embed link is not that obvious. Here's some directions on how to go about finding that. Do not use them for picture selling.

http://www.imageshack.us/ -- Seems pretty easy to use and fairly reliable. BUT!! No offensive or pornographic images allowed. Also, if you do NOT get your own account... your images could be overwritten at any time.

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/ -- Simple to use. BUT!! You just upload, you do not get your own account. Do not use them for websites. Also, they can remove images for any reason.

http://imagehosting.biz/ -- Seems you can just upload, without creating a account. They clearly state what they consider abuse so you won't lose your pics if you follow the rules. BUT!! Can only upload *.jpg, *.png, *.bmp, and *.gif files. Max file size of 8 gb.

Tinypic -- Looks pretty easy to use. I don't see a size limit at this time, tho there proly is one. BUT!! This is run by the same guys who run Photobucket, and recently Photobucket got..really bad (they were starting to force charge people for hotlinking) so you might want to be careful here. You have to register to delete any files. They also may be one of those that resize your pics if they're too big.

Google Drive -- Pretty easy to upload and stuff; it's like Dropbox. You can store and link anything here. They can handle bigger files than most, tho you wouldn't want a huge file in your sig or anything. BUT!! It is a PAIIIN to get the link so you can use it embedded, and not a website link. You will need to follow these instructions to get the embed code so you can use it as a sig or something, which isn't obvious. May not be good for forums like this for that reason.

DeviantArt's Sta.sh -- You need a DeviantArt account to get access to this.No file size limits that I can see. You can make directories to help organize your pics, and link to said directories..or the whole account..really easily so others can browse. BUT!! To get a embed link, you actually have to publish whatever to DeviantArt. I think this is better for those that create their own fanart/sig pics/avatars for that reason.

Imgbox -- Looks pretty good. You may want to register. BUT!!! The host reserves the right to remove anyone for any reason. Limit of 10 MB per file.

Postimage -- Decent, you will have to register to organize your files. BUT!! No infringing or copywrited material allowed. If you do violate their TOS, the offending images will be removed without warning.
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Naturally, I'm always looking for more places, since places die, and places sometimes use nasteh policies about direct linking. If you see any more/know of any more let me know, I'll add it to the list! Preference is for those you can actually direct link pics from b/c well, the original list was for posting pics on boards. And of course, since most of us have to pinch pennies..free's better.

Last edited by maryadavies on Fri Oct 20, 2017 9:34 am, edited 7 times in total.

I think dropbox disabled hotlinking to images. Might want to cross that one out.

Just to cover all cases, Hotlinking refers to uploading an image somewhere and using the URL for it on a different site. Some sites are cool with it, most aren't since they don't want to give up their bandwidth to different sites. It also refers to linking to an image in a way that uses up the bandwidth for someone else.

Take; I'll do a test embed with Dropbox on my personal site, if that's true, it'll be struck off not only here, but the master list as well.

And yeah, that covers what hotlinking/direct linking is pretty much. Unfortunately, anyone who uses a signature pic, avatar, or displays pictures on any forum needs a place to stash their pics so you can use them/embed them. So finding hosters that allow direct linking is essential.

Luna; Thanks. I just got all "Uggh!" when I saw that..that..ugly extortion pic as someone's avatar. So thought I'd drag this out. I figure not everyone likes to crawl around on RPGamer, after all. ^^

[Edit] They changed the links on dropbox so you can't embed them anymore. So off it goes. Stuff happens. ^^ I mean to keep this updated so people know where to find places to stash their pics.

I use flickr myself. It may be from Yahoo, but I like it as it is simple, has shortlinks, and no money needs to change hands. True, you do need a Yahoo account, but I'm on the Caer Azkaban Yahoo group, so I have an excuse.